The City Council is getting an update this week from the fire department about the nearly empty Whittenton Mills complex, and it's not altogether encouraging.

As of Jan. 25, the owner, Jefferson Development Partners LLC, owes the city more than $374,000 for a round-the-clock fire watch detail, and $5,500 in unpaid fire-prevention fines, according to a letter submitted by Fire Chief Timothy Bradshaw in this week's council agenda packet.

The 42-acre site and its multiple buildings are scheduled to be auctioned off on Wednesday by JJ Manning Auctioneers.

Jefferson Development, under the stewardship of David Murphy, listed as managing partner of Hamilton Development Partners LLC, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection last November.

The Hamilton Development website identifies three business addresses, one in Leominster and two in Boston.

The Taunton auction has twice been delayed, once because of snow and the other when Murphy called at the last minute to say he was re-organizing his debt.

He bought the complex for $1.7 million in 2005, at which time he became owner of the adjacent Whittenton Pond dam, which drew national attention when it came close to collapsing that summer.

In 2008, Murphy also rented building space to director Martin Scorsese who was filming scenes for his movie "Shutter Island."

Bradshaw said prospective buyers have recently visited the property. He also said his department will meet with a new sprinkler contractor to discuss what is required to make the system operable.

Bradshaw said most of the buildings are open to the elements and "continue to deteriorate."

"These structures will have to be secured and the interiors properly heated to prevent" further sprinkler breaks, he said.

As recently as last October, Murphy denied that his property was being foreclosed.

He insisted he was moving forward with a plan to build an assisted living complex along with retail business and light industry space, and that he was lining up foreign investors in Africa and other countries to take part in the federal EB-5 visa program.

That program requires a minimum investment of $500,000 per investor. They are in turn put on a fast track to US citizenship. Back in 2012, Murphy said he was lining up Chinese investors via EB-5 for a $50 million project.

During an October 2013 interview with the Taunton Daily Gazette, he claimed to have paid at least $350,000 in back taxes and fees to the city in 2012.

In 2005, when Murphy bought the property from John Chopak, the last owner of Dyecraftsmen Inc., a textile processor renting space at the site, he said he wasn't interested in developing housing and instead vowed to attract more light-industry tenants.

Two years later he unveiled a five-year plan that would transform the site into condos, apartments, assisted living, as well as retail, light industry and medical office space.

Page 2 of 2 - "I feel great about it," he said.

Through the years, Murphy has been a thorn in the side of the City Council, some of whom have questioned why the city continued to give him more time to pay his taxes and fees.

According to news reports, a Boston development company in December paid Jefferson Development Partners $328,000, and paid off $652,000 in back taxes and fees for a vacant mill building in Easthampton.

Murphy bought that building in 2005, the same year he purchased Whittenton Mills, and shortly thereafter announced plans to work with a couple to develop a gay/lesbian-friendly retirement community.

One of the women, according to reports, was later convicted of larceny for emptying out an escrow account containing deposits from prospective condo buyers.

A minimum deposit of $75,000 is required at Wednesday's auction, according to JJ Manning Auctioneers.

Calls seeking comment from Murphy and his former attorney, John Downey of Boston, have not been returned.